The Gift
by itslivinginallofus
Summary: A Valentine's Day Halex oneshot. Pure fluff! That's all you get because I suck at summaries :p


**AUTHOR'S NOTE: A little new for me -- nothing but fluff ^__^ This is inspired by and dedicated to my amazing girlfriend, Jordan. I love you, babe!**

**DISCLAIMER: Sadly, I am not fortunate enough to own anything pertaining to Wizards of Waverly Place. If I did, it'd go a little something like this...**

"NO!" Alex exclaimed, followed by the sounds of metal meeting linoleum and electrical whirring falling to a sudden silence.

Harper, against explicit orders to the contrary, ran from the lair into the sub station kitchen to find Alex amidst a scene that could be likened to that of a slapstick comedy movie: the young wizard was bent at the waist, her apron tangled up wildly in the egg beater and the floor (which included the now-bent, faced-down mixing bowl), the walls, and Alex were covered in a runny brown batter. Harper suppressed her first reaction to laugh and dashed over to her girlfriend, instantly unplugging the machine to free the other girl as quickly as possible. The beaters slowed to a stop, allowing Alex to stand up straight and breathe out a sigh of both relief and frustration.

Unsure of whether or not it was safe to laugh yet, Harper dabbed a clean corner of the apron against Alex's batter-splattered forehead and prodded gently to gain insight into her mood. "So... what happened?"

Her brow furrowed, Alex exhaled laboriously and leaned against the counter for much-needed support. She had called Harper about an hour earlier and told her to come over for a late-night surprise, and the redhead was mildly confused when she was escorted to the lair, given a fashion magazine, and told to stay put under all circumstances. She thought she had an idea what might be going on, but Alex being alone and useful in a kitchen was something she had yet to see, so she wasn't really sure of much.

"Okay, well I thought since it was our first Valentines Day and I kind of -- spent all my money from last week's paycheck," Alex began, speaking that part significantly softer, "I wanted to have you over and make the brownies that you love, but I've never made them without magic and apparently it's not only _magic _I shouldn't be allowed to do unsupervised!"

The laugh that had been hiding in the back of Harper's throat finally made its way to the forefront and escaped loudly, yet lovingly. "Aww! You're so cute for trying!"

Not quite feeling the love, Alex continued to pout. "I didn't want to _try_, I wanted to succeed."

Harper placed a small kiss on Alex's mouth in order to hide another smile that was playing on her own lips. "Well... do you want to try and make them again using magic?"

Now bummed out and incorrigible, the wizard let out another sigh. "But I really wanted to do them without magic. I need to start learning how to do without," she protested.

Harper tilted her head to the side and raised her eyebrows, convinced that Alex was just being stubborn. "Come on, now, you have just as much of a shot at winning the wizard competition as Justin, and you know it. All the studying we've been doing, I don't want to hear that."

"Yeah, but you never know," Alex began, suddenly and inexplicably turning around to start cleaning up some of the mess she made, averting eye contact with Harper. "I mean, maybe I won't win, or maybe I won't have my powers for some other reason, I mean you can never be too sure."

Already prepped with a defense, Harper started right in. "Alex, what other reason could there possibly be for you to not have your -"

And just as quickly as she started talking, she shut up. It was only in that moment that she remembered Mrs. Russo telling them the story years earlier how Jerry was made to choose between his wizard powers and Theresa, as wizards and mortals were not allowed to be married. She distinctly recalled the tingly feeling she got in her stomach at the thought of such real-life romanticism, and she wasn't sure if they should, but those feelings were sneaking up on her again at this very moment.

"Oh, right," Harper continued, "marrying a mortal would make you lose your powers."

Still focused meaninglessly on cleaning, Alex simply nodded, glancing at Harper out of the corner of her eye.

The slightly shorter girl's heart began to thump heavily within her chest as she again carefully prodded toward more information before jumping to conclusions. "But... that's forever away, right? Not something you need to worry about now," she offered ambiguously.

In turn, the young wizard's face began to redden slightly as she began to toss glances more frequently in the direction of her girlfriend. "Well, yeah, technically it's not something that's coming around the corner any time soon, but... I don't know. Sometimes you're so sure that something will work out a certain way that even pretending it will work out any other way just seems kind of pointless. I mean, why should I keep learning spells if I'm going to have to get used to life without them... and I'm not saying it's a bad thing, I mean, it's good, it's just going to be different and... yeah," her voice trailed off tentatively, saying so much by saying so little. "I mean, I can barely do my regular homework, so why add more?" she finished off with a nervous joke, going back to aimlessly cleaning.

The tingly feeling arming Harper full force, she grabbed the dishtowel out of Alex's hand and pulled her close by the straps of her apron and into a tight, messy hug and a sweet, messier kiss.

"Let's clean this up and go to bed," Harper whispered, eyes shimmering and voice sensual.

For the first time since before the baking catastrophe, Alex gave way to an uninhibited smile. "But... what about your gift?"

Harper wiped one final spot of batter off of Alex's nose before kissing it gently. "You already gave it to me."

**Mushy? Yes, yes it is. Reviews? That's up to you :D**


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